


Looking Back

by olivia71295



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, HQ!! Brofest - Master Tier, I'll add actual better tags when i finish, Karasuno Family, Third Year Hinata Shouyou, Third Year Kageyama Tobio, Third Year Yachi Hitoka, artistic Kageyama, emotional daichi, i mention everyone's name at least once, just go with it, sorry y'all, the story is told out of order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:38:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivia71295/pseuds/olivia71295
Summary: The final tournaments are always the hardest, plenty of things to think back on from years past.Or Yachi has a lot of emotions while she watches the team play in their last possible tournament.





	Looking Back

**Author's Note:**

> But hey, quick, before you read what little there is of this so far, if it's in italics, its probably the sections in the present and everything else is in the past. Good luck!

_ Townsperson B. A simple title, often not even truly needed, but her role. At least back in drama way back in middle school. _

 

_ Now, she's Karasuno’s manager for the boy's volleyball team, and she's sitting on the bench for her last tournament. Like her three years ago, the new manager's up in the stands above. He's bookish and wears oversized glasses, but he's more confident than she ever was back then. _

 

_ Her eyes flick back to the game, Karasuno versus Aoba Johsai, just in time to see Hinata hit one of his super quick hits from the back, scoring a point for Karasuno. Nineteen to sixteen, Karasuno lead. It's only the first set, and they have a good chance if winning and going to the finals, to nationals. _

 

_ One of Aoba Johsai’s second years serves, and Karasuno’s only starting first year, the libero, picks it up and sends it to Kageyama. A second year hits and is blocked. Hinata receives it with his face, a mistake he hasn't made in a little time. Yachi Hitoka groans as she imagines the pain. Especially since Hinata had insisted on getting a new facial piercing recently. _

 

_ Tanaka and Nishinoya had been the ones to introduce Hinata to the idea back in second year, and Hinata had been hooked. He had shown up to practice with a random selection of piercings whenever he could, annoying Coach Ukai. _

 

_ Coach Ukai calls for a time out as soon as he can, calling Hinata over to him. Coach Ukai holds his hand out, palm upwards at Hinata. And Hinata follows the unspoken command  _ ‘take out your piercings’. _  He removes all that he can, leaving the stud in his nose and a few other things, sighs, and places the pile in the offered hand. Coach Ukai hands them off to Yachi, who had had a plastic zip lock bag prepared for just this case. Coach Ukai gives a quick speech about not underestimating the other team before they run out onto the court, screaming as they go, some louder than others. _

 

_ Yachi laughs slightly as they yell. One thing that has never changed the entire time she knew them was their enthusiasm for volleyball. Even if so much else has changed. _

 

_ The old second and third years have left.  _

 

_ They had all been through so much. Together. Alone. As a team. As a family. _

 

_ Hinata hits the ball again, the ball hitting the floor with a resounding sound, echoing throughout the entire gym. _

 

~*~*~

 

Her story could start with her birth, with her first memories, with middle school. But those are different stories. Her volleyball story begins with her speaking to a too pretty girl in a too crowded hallway in too soft voices. And looking back, her volleyball story is the story of when she started living.

 

Being awestruck, unable to truly understand what was happening, Yachi had agreed to whatever the pretty girl had wanted, nodding her head slowly, pink lips whispering a ‘yes’. The pretty girl had looked so happy, mentioning a gym to be at after school. Yachi had had no choice but to go.

 

And there she stood, trying to convince herself that there would be no stray bullets trying to get her for talking with such a pretty girl. What she really should have been terrified of was the people. A group of huge, tall people, boys. They had crazy hair colors and styles: a bun, silver, orange, dark blue, spikey, shaved, mixed black and blond. They were probably going to be the ones to kill her for talking to the pretty lady.   _ Were they her bodyguards? _ (They were the ones to save her.) (Or did she save them?)

 

Once she had learned the other’s names, which had taken an effort all of its own, Yachi started to learn about the others. Hinata and Kageyama were bad at school. They were the first ones she had become close to.

 

Hinata had helped her to be more open, to yell in train stations at her mother, “I’m going to be the volleyball team’s manager!” Kageyama had helped Yachi in a less obvious way. Work hard in what you want, not everything needs your attention. She, in turn, had helped them as well.

 

The first time that Hinata had grabbed her hand, Kageyama was not there. They were running, Hinata faster than Yachi could keep up with. Her feet had stumbled across the ground. She could remember the moments in which the white ends, the area above her brightly painted toes, and scuffed across the ground, leaving a little gorgue that she just couldn’t get rid of. It was there until the moment she outgrew them.

 

_ The volleyball hits the ground again, this time on Karasuno’s side of the court. Yachi hadn’t seen why it had fallen because she had been too busy staring at her current tennis shoes. They were purple, but over time, Kageyama had drawn on them, creating a web of spirals in pink, blue, black, silver. Just swirls that never seemed to end. _

 

Kageyama hardly ever reached out for physical interaction, unlike Hinata. He’d rather sit beside you in silence, just enjoying being there. They - Hinata, Kageyama, and Yachi - had all spent time like that together, when Hinata could be convinced to stay quiet. More often than not, it was just Yachi and Kageyama. She drew or wrote, always working on the next poster for the team. Kageyama would sometimes try to study, but would often give up, instead drawing up the next new plans for a volleyball play. He had been the one to draw on her tennis shoes, deciding it would be a new way to sit in silence.

 

Yachi had accepted it, but her mother had been mad, “What had you done to your new shoes?” she had yelled, sometime near the end of her first year, “You just got those!” And Kageyama had only added some black swirls on one of the white areas over the toes, when the gorgue had been on the last pair. 

 

Truthfully, Yachi hadn’t seen a problem in having drawings all over her shoes. It looked nice. Her mother thought differently apparently.

 

_ She’s staring at them again. Both have different patterns, different colors. She could tell the story of the red ones near her left heel, the blue on the inside of her right shoe, the way the yellow lines seemed to form a heart when she put both her feet together. A story written in swirls. _

 

The first time she had stepped into the gym, following what the pretty girl, Kiyoko, had wanted, and after she had been assaulted by the scary, big people, Yachi had run away, club paperwork held in her hand. She had grabbed it by the middle, smashing the paper. It would be crinkled whenever she got her mother to sign up, if she ever got her mother to sign it.

 

She would need her mother to sign it if she wanted to join.

 

She wanted to see the Kiyoko again. But not the scary people.

 

But Yachi would have to speak to her mom, have to hear the speech, “Don’t join anything if you’re just going to bring everything else down.” But did she really bring everything down? Yachi would like to believe so, but her mother always said she never applied herself enough.

 

Would she be able to? Or would she burn out quickly, having to give up on joining the club soon after starting it.

 

Yachi had sat down on the sidewalk that day, on her way home, still smashing the paper in her hands, and cried. That was often her response when things got tough, when decisions were too hard or stress to obvious. When her father was still at the house, he would yell at her for it.

 

“Don’t be too emotional. Nobody likes someone who cries all the time.” It only made her cry harder while trying not to.  _ Don’t want to be to emotional. _ But there are times where crying just makes everything feel better.

 

She got odd looks from the people who had to walk around her. A schoolgirl with blond hair, partly in a falling apart ponytail, a wrinkled school uniform, holding a crumpled paper, with tear tracks all down her cheeks. Eventually, she stood up again. Yachi wiped her cheeks off with her sleeves, and continued back to her house. Her mother would be at work at the moment, she could hide the fact that she had just been crying. Again.

 

She makes her own dinner, noodles and some vegetables, and eats by herself, a usual occurrence. Her mother won't be home until late today. Yachi quickly washes the dishes and does her homework. She smiles slightly as she rewrites her notes from the day in neat handwriting and mixed colors. An easy to reference guide for whenever she needs it is created step by step. A volleyball is drawn in one corner of the paper. She had seen it during the few terrifying moments in the gym, surrounded by scary people who were all going to kill her for talking to the pretty girl.

 

Yachi closes the notebook and goes about her nightly routine. Iron the school clothes. Lay out her headband, earrings, and lipgloss. Make sure the gym clothes are packed. Bento prepared and placed in the fridge, this one wrapped up in a bright pink cloth with cute little chicks on it. Brush her teeth, her hair. Wash her face. Change into an oversized shirt, gray with New York written on it, and loose shorts. Her floor is cold in the mornings, so her socks stay on. Blankets are tucked in, stuffed animals arranged.

 

And finally, she falls asleep.

 

_ The team had dived for the ball. Apparently it had been dumped by the opposing setter. They quickly get up again, panting slightly. Yachi notes that they’ll need a water break soon, but the set’s almost over. They should be fine. She starts to refill the bottles. Hinata likes his to be full, Kei wants room temperature water. They’re all different. _

 

She stands in the shower long enough in the morning for the water to run cold. If her mother had been home, Yachi probably would have been yelled at, “You’re wasting all our water!” But her mother was not home, and they were not low on money at all.

 

So Yachi stood, letting the now cold water run down her face and back, washing off everything from yesterday. Today would be different, without scary people distracting her. No crying in the middle of the sidewalk.

 

Eventually, she got out, drying herself off quickly and dressing in her ironed uniform. Pink lip gloss was applied in the mirror, and the blue hair tie with the stars helped keep her hair up. Both of her notebooks for notes, rewritten and not, were packed, and so was money for her lunch. She had spent too much time in the shower to make one.

 

The beginning of her morning went well enough. Classes, taking notes, generally just staying away from others. A nice way to get through the school day. But it was quickly dispersed. The first break of the day, while Yachi had been pulling out her rewritten notes to study from them, two forces of nature stormed into her classroom. And they walked right to her. She glanced them over quickly. Orange spiky hair. Black hair frowny face. Two boys from the volleyball club. One was tall, but the other was short. Both had a serious look on their faces.

 

Yachi stared as they walked to her. She struggled to gather their names. She had been told them yesterday afternoon, but her worrying had caused her not to pay enough attention. And again, her imagination was getting the best of her.  _ Were they sent by Kiyoko to murder me? Or were they sent by her other fans? Are they going to kill me quickly at least? Or will I have a painful slow death? I want it to be quick. And I hope they hide my body somewhere easy to find. I want my mom to know that I’m dead. _

 

Her thoughts, always on a runway to the impossible, were stopped when the two boys stopped in front of her. A second, not even, a millisecond passed as all three stared at each other. Than the two bowed in front of her, low, almost to the halfway point. The orange haired one spoke louder than the black haired one, but both could be heard, even if one was mumbling, “Please help us sturdy for english!”

 

Yachi blinked at them for a second as they both continued to hold their bowed state. She answered them quietly, “O-of course, please sit down.”

 

They both snapped up into standing position again. The black haired one looked around and grabbed two empty chairs and put them down in front of her desk while the oranged haired one spoke, “My friend Kageyama and I, Hinata, suck at english. And just about everything else too! But like, you’re in the college class, so we figured that you could help us study so that we do well and that we pass our tests so that we can go to Tokyo to play against a bunch of really awesome schools and hopefully improve ourselves!”

 

Yachi blinked then stared at the short, motor mouth kid in front of her, “T-tokyo?” She stuttered out, “Why there?”

 

The tall one with the scrunched up face answered before the short one, Hinata, could, “We got invited to a training camp with some schools from there.”

 

“Oh,” Yachi responded. She reached down and searched through her school bag, looking for her rewritten notes. She found the spiral notebook and opened to the front of it, “What exactly do you need help with?”

 

“Everything!” Hinata basically yelled.

 

Kageyama was more help, “Contractions.”

 

Yachi opened the notebook to her personal table of contents page, and searched for anything to do with contractions. As she did so, she spoke, proud when her voice did not waver, “What positions do you play in volleyball?”

 

She opened her book to a page with a list of common english contractions while Hinata spoke, “Kageyama’s a setter. He goes like  _ whoosh _ and puts the volleyball in just the right place to hit it. I get to hit the balls like  _ wham _ !”

 

Yachi had the correct page opened up, “I thought you needed to be tall in order to hit the ball?” She left her statement open, like a question. Maybe Hinata was a back up for the taller kids she had seen yesterday.

 

Hinata opened his eyes real wide and placed his hand over his heart like he was offended, “I may be short, but I can jump!” In order to prove his point, He jumped high in the air, and on his way down, his arm hit her notebook off of her desk. Her page with neatly written contractions and their meanings tumbled to the ground while the person in front of her stood with a large smile on his face.

 

_ They had quickly regrouped, like always, the Karasuno team. They had scored back. Hinata had been rotated to the front and had done a normal quick, specifically a wipe. It had it the ground and had echoed again. Yachi had stood up, cheering when it happened. Her notebook of different plays had fallen to the ground, but she was too busy hugging the coach to bother with picking it up. _

 

Hinata and Kageyama left her with many compliments, ‘Your handwriting is so neat,’ ‘Your notebook is so organized,’ and other stuff like that. But they had also left with one other thing. A promise, “I’ll see you at volleyball later today!”

 

They had left in a flurry of motion, leaving Yachi alone with two empty desks and basically a promise.

 

She had fulfilled her promise, showing up that afternoon at the gym. Searching for Kiyoko, Hinata, or Kageyama. The only three people she knew so far. A flash of orange, too bright in the room of dulled colors because even the curtain on the stage was a dull red color, showed her where Hinata was. And Kageyama was right beside him.

 

She stood just inside the door, out of the way of people coming in and hopefully where people would not see her standing. And come talking to her. Especially if she did not know their names. That would be a worst case scenario. Yachi just stood there, taking in everything she could. Gray hair and off white shirt with long sleeves pulled low. Bags under eyes and overly happy smiles and yells. Black hair cut roughly or shaved off completely. Brown hair tied off. Scars and bruises. People falling and standing back up again.

 

Hinata finally noticed her, standing against the wall, after a hit. One of many successful hits that she had seen. This one had been quick; the ball hitting the ground in the time it took for Yachi to blink. Hinata smiled at Yachi and waved, “Yachi! Glad to see you!”

 

Almost instantly, people turned to look at where, at who, Hinata was yelling at. They all turned to stare at her, almost in slow motion. She pulled at her hair, put up in a ponytail to the side of her head,  _ ‘curse my blond hair’ _ . They all were staring at her. Yachi made to move to the door, to let herself out instead of being accidently murdered by all of the giants in the room. But life does not always allow you to turn away whenever you wish, as Yachi soon figured out. As they all stare at her and she couldn't get away, they started to speak. It was just Hinata at first, telling Kageyama that she really had come, just like he had said. A short person with a wide smile, black hair, and one random section dyed blond that stuck straight up into the air spoke to a taller person with a bald head. "Look at how cute she is!"

 

Yachi inched more towards the door. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come inside after all she decided. Just as she made it to where the door was, it opened from the outside, someone else coming in. She fell backward at the force of the door being opened. Fell to the ground. She moved as fast as she could to stand back up again, to go out the door, but it had been shut as quickly as it had opened. A  _ slight _ problem.

 

The other people were paying attention to who had come in. A person, probably a third year, with black hair and wide set shoulders and an easy smile had entered the room. Yachi stared up at him, as he seemed to demand the respect of everyone in the room without even trying. She stood up from the ground, now in the back of the crowd and knocked dust off of her skirt as he spoke to the other people, “Now, we need to be sure to practice well today. I expect the best from all of you today. We need to get better before the winter tournament because we can be sure that everyone else is also getting stronger. We can’t be left behind.”

 

Yachi jumped slightly as the people around her started screaming in various degrees of enthusiasm. Even Kiyoko, who stood behind the person who had spoken, was smiling. She seemed to be joining in on the enthusiasm.

 

Yachi glanced around for the door again; she remembered that she had been intruding on the meeting. She saw it and started to walk towards it, but was stopped by Kiyoko, who had somehow come up behind her. The pretty girl spoke softly, almost a whisper. She was hard to hear in the gym once the others had started to play volleyball again, so Yachi leaned in closer. “Yachi, I’m glad that you were able to make it here today. I was scared that you would not come by again after yesterday.” She paused and looked out across the room of people, “I know they can all be a little hard to deal with at times.” She pretty eyes seemed to sparkle with past knowledge. Or, that’s what Yachi would say if she were a poet.

 

But she's not a poet, but she's not a poet and she's not a volleyball player and she should be leaving the gym behind and going back to her house and going to sleep or doing homework. She souldn't be here, in a gym, surrounded by people she doesn't know.

 

But she is.

 

Yachi nods in Kiyoko's direction. Her eyes wandering to where the door is. The thing is red, and the paint in cracking slightly. But that's not the important thing. What's more important is that it's closed. Kiyoko starts walking to the stage, and Yachi follows her, a step behind. She stares down at the other girl's shoes. The bottoms are worn from use, probably from running. But why would she be running, probably on pavement or sidewalk from how worn they are, if all she did was manager duties?

 

Did they make their manager run with them? Or run around town for them? Was it some weird punishment she would have to do if she joined the club? Yachi did not want to do that.

 

Kiyoko eventually got to the stage, and she sat down at the edge of the stage, her feet dangling in the air. Yachi followed her and also sat at the edge of the stage. It was made of wood a long time ago, and Yachi sat there, tracing the grain of it while she waited for something to happen. Eventually, Kiyoko spoke, pointing at different people. "This is the team. If you join, you'll eventually get to know all of them, but for now, during your trial period, just learning their names is good enough." She pointed at a tall man with a red jacket and dyed blond hair with black roots showing, "This is coach Ukai." Next she pointed to the shorter man beside him, with black hair and round glasses, "And that's the club sponsor, Takeda-sensei."

 

_ Karasuno had won the first set against Aboi Johsai. The score had ended up being 26-24. A close game, like usual. And they were switching sides once again. Yachi stood between Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei and they walked around the court. She carried her cart of water bottles to hand out to the team. Bright yellow bottles with names written on them. One for each person. _

 

"The other members are here, and you can learn their names as you go, if you want," Kiyiko said.

 

“I actually already met some of them,” Yachi admitted to Kiyoko, “Hinata and Kageyama came to me for help in english.”

 

Kiyoko smiled, “That’s good. They need all the help they can get.”

 

“They mentioned something about Tokyo,” Yachi asked, “What’s that all about?”

 

“We’re going on a trip there for a training camp soon,” Kiyoko said quietly, “Takeda-sensei can tell you more if you wish.”

 

Yachi nodded, “Sure, thanks!”

 

They were silent for another moment before Kiyoko spoke again, “Are you able to stay the whole time today?”

 

Yachi jumped slightly, “Um, yeah, I guess.” The red door was still closed.

 

Kiyoko smiled, “Great Yachi! You can stay here and watch while I go and do whatever I normally do.” 

 

Yachi nodded and stayed seated while Kiyoko jumped off of the stage. She went back to tracing the wood grain, finding non existent patterns in the wood. Time passed quickly as she sat there, drawing swirls and following lines. There was a groove in the wood where someone must have fallen a long time ago. You couldn’t see it when looking, but she could feel it with her fingers.

 

A whistle sounded, and Yachi looked up from her shoes suddenly, staring at what was happening. A mini game on the court. Yachi stared at it as it happened, watching people jump and fall and dive. The ball hit the ground with a crack that echoed more often than not.

 

She had to say, it was pretty amazing.

 

~*~*~

 

_ Yamaguchi had been pulled in early during the second set. The second year was was set to serve was shaking. It was Karasuno’s first serve of the set, and Coach Ukai had decided to start it out strong again. Right now, with all four third years on the court, was a rare moment. All four were great players, even when Hinata was in the back row, Tsukishima was in the front. Defence was stronger in those moments. Yamaguchi served his signature move, a jump floater. It went over and hit the ground, as the other team dived for the ball that had fallen suddenly. _

 

Yachi was being pulled along by Hinata, running down the street. Her feet were tripping over the pavement, and she had already fallen once, skinning her knees. But she was having fun. She couldn’t remember a time in which she had ever had fun coming down this street, and she went down it every day. To school and after school, she had to get on the train, but this was the first time she had run down it or had had fun on it.

 

And it was all thanks to Hinata, pulling her along, making her yell at her mom, ”I’m going to be Karasuno’s manager!” It was an amazing feeling.

 

Kageyama was harder to get along with. He spoke little, and often his words were littered with profanities. But he seemed to always know the exact right time to talk. A few nights after getting to meet him and two nights after signing up to be manager, Yachi had been curled up in her room.

 

She had just finished making dinner for her and her mom when she had received the message. ‘I’m not going to be home until later tonight sweetie. I’ll see you tomorrow!’

 

Yachi had cleaned up the plates at that message. No use having food out if it wouldn’t be eaten. Food was in the fridge and plates in the dish drainer. And Yachi had gone to her room and cried. All children want time with their parents sometimes, even her.

 

But Kageyama had texted her, somehow with proper grammar, asking for her notes. Their tests were coming up soon, and he wanted to do well. So Yachi forced herself out of her corner and to her bag, and she pulled her notes out of her bags. She opened it up to what Kageyama needed and took pictures of each page at a time.

 

Her small breakdown was forgotten as she explained everything over the phone to Kageyama.

 

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had become her friends by default. Eating lunch with Hinata and Kageyama lead to eating lunch with Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. The shorter boy with the uneven smile was easy to get along with. He was always ready to talk about anything. 

 

Tsukishima was a different story. He wore a frown and spoke with a bite. His teeth seemed to be sharpened to a point, ready to bite at anyone and anything that went against what he said. But he helped control Hinata and Kageyama whenever they got out of hand, which was welcome.

 

_ The game had started up again. The second set. If Karasuno won, they would get to head on to the final round, if they lost, they had one more chance. They headed out onto the court, loud but not loud enough. Yachi found herself missing the ones who had graduated last year. Tanaka and Nishinoya would never fail to be loud and happy, no matter what happened. _

 

“TANAKA!” Yachi yelled, grabbing onto the second year’s arm, “Hinata, he and Kageyama, they, Hiayama, they’re hurt! You’ve got to, someone's gotta, I should call the police, they’re going to die!” She was basically yelling.

 

In the time she had been the manager of Karasuno, she had become close to Hinata and Kageyama, and by extent Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. They were the first years. She had also become close to Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei and Kiyoko. Everyone who sat at the bench together.

 

Seeing that first mini game, seeing how well it all went together, she had been hooked. Hinata pulling her to where her mother had been getting on the train had been one of the most thrilling moments of her life. Yelling in the train station had been amazing yet nerve wracking.

 

But seeing her friends fighting was not anything that could be considered good whatsoever. And here she was, yelling at Tanaka about them fighting.

 

He seemed to understand what she was saying, all jumbled together and skipping thoughts quickly, her hands waving widely in the air, and he started to run to the gym. Yachi stumbled after him. Tanaka threw open the gym doors and paused for a second, almost surprised, but he rushed in quickly to draw the two people fighting apart.

 

Somewhere, Yachi was relieved that Tanaka had been the first person she had found. He often spoke of fights, or tried to get people to fight him, so he was probably the best person to get in the case of a fight. At least, that’s what she hoped, but one could never know.

 

He pulled them apart and started to speak to them, telling them not to fight and not to scare a lady.

 

Eventually, everyone calmed down, and they all went their separate ways home.

 

Yachi fell onto her bed once she got home, groaning. It had been another long day, and she still had homework to do. Not for the first time, she wondered how the players actually did it, playing and school. They must all be better than her at time management. Eventually, she got out of bed and made her dinner before sitting down to work on her homework, regretting the loss of sleep.

 

_ The first hit for their side was from Hinata, a wipe. A move the Little Giant had once perfected. _

 

“The Little Giant,” Hinata had explained to her on the bus ride home from training camp, “was so small, but he could jump over the others and  _ slam!  _ hit the ball with such power. I want to be him one day.” He looked out the window for a minute, “Or, I want to be better than him.”

 

_ Thinking back to that first year together, he had become better. Hinata was not, could never be, the Little Giant, but he was Hinata, a force to be reckoned with. The whole team had been like that. From that first training camp to now, everyone had improved. _

 

During the week long training camp at Nekoma, Yachi had seen it - the new spike. It barely happened, a quick hit, but it had been enough. She, like the others on the team, had been overjoyed by the hit (and the victory of the set). 

 

It have been worth it, after seeing the team’s relationships being stretched to the breaking point during the camp. Even if Yachi was not a part of the intertwined relationships, she could see them. Yamaguchi and Tsukishima had a small breaking point, with them both learning their own separate lessons. The tensions between Kageyama and Hinata had been felt by the entire team.

 

Everyone had been getting better with team efforts and individual improvements.

 

It had been worth it, watching them run up and down the deadly tall hill (she was just waiting for it to crumble and cover the gym, killing all of them inside; they’d probably only die after days, and would the others end up eating her for food as they ran out of energy bars?) and doing dive drills. 

 

Their reaction to the barbeque, a dance led by Tanaka, had been worth it.

 

Sitting with Hinata and Kageyama in the shade after they had finished eating had been worth the week of struggling with strangers, even she could admit that.

 

_ The team always got better. Members left and new ones came in, always changing the team dynamic, making it what it is now, but always improving. Old moves became new ones, better and stronger. A point proven by the ever evolving super quick, always higher and faster in order to avoid the blocks. The tournaments, like this one, showed this evolution. They showed how Karasuno fared against other opponents.  _

 

Seeing them play at the tournament, the first one Yachi had been able to go to, had been more rewarding than any other practice game she had seen. The only way she could describe it was magical.

 

The first game went easily, and the second one was just a little harder. But seeing her team’s faces after they had won was rewarding. Even if she was stuck up in the stands, with the other spectators, seeing them win made her bubble up with delight.

 

The main preliminary games were harder. Jozenji and Wakutani both were different, hard to Karasuno to beat. The game with Wakutani had the player most like Hinata’s idol - the Little Giant. But again, seeing them scream and jump up and down after winning had made that struggle worthwhile. 

 

The semifinals had Yachi biting her fingernails. In their last tournament, Yachi had heard on the announcements that Aoba Jousai had beat Karasuno bitterly. 31 to 33.

 

And here they were, playing that team again. Just sitting in the stands, Yachi could see how powerful the others were, putting their all into every hit. If she had been down there, Yachi decided, she would be crying right about now. Just one serve from  _ the Grand King _ would have sent her off of the court.

 

But they stayed down there, and they won. Seeing their reaction to this game had been better than anyone before. She could almost swear, if she swore, that at least one team member was crying.

 

The ride home that day had been filled with empty water bottles, tylenol, protein bars, and naps. Anything to help them out. Being at the school that night had been filled with warm compresses and video tapes. Video tapes that showed how the team in their next game, Shiratorizawa always won, bitterly shoving others out of their way in every game.

 

_ The crowd behind her cheered as Aoba Johsai’s team had another service ace. Yachi pulled on Coach Ukai’s sleeve, ready to tell him to call a timeout if another one happened right in front of their first year librio. It would be the third one in a row if it did hit. _

 

_ And it did hit with a resounding bang. The cheers were a second behind, and the whistle for the time out even later. But her team got to join her, all of them standing around her bench. Coach Ukai was speaking, reminding everyone to stay calm and to think. _

 

Her first time at nationals with the team she had heard the same speech. It was the third match there. The opposing team’s serves were worse than any others they had experienced. Noya was pulled out because of a minor injury, so the team was relying on Daichi to pick up the serves. He was the backbone of the team. 

 

And even he had trouble with the serves. Getting to them, getting them up, sending them to Kageyama. It had been devastating for everyone. Yachi only had the power to sit in the bleachers and cheer for her team, being louder than ever before. Being so far up, she couldn’t see their faces, but it was easy for Yachi to imagine Daichi’s face.

 

His lips would be more pink than usual because he would be biting them. His cheeks would be more pink as well. A mixture of exhaustion and embarrassment would be causing that. But his eyes would be sparkling. The true reason for that would be tears, but he would play it off as the lighting or sweat. He would pretend to be strong for his team, even as he was falling apart. It was a mindset that Yachi experienced often.

 

But as the game went one, and the other team gained more points from their serves alone, Yachi could easily see how Daichi would have a harder and harder time saying that there were no tears in his eyes.

 

And as the opposing team won, Yachi could see how Daichi would stop denying the tears freely running down his face.

 

_ Their time out was over, and the team went out onto the court again, calmer than before. They were ready for everything and anything. And with the next serve, it was sent up perfectly to Kageyama. And it hit the other side of the court with a bang louder than any of the earlier serves. And she cheered and clapped for her team. And the game was off again. _

 

She actually got to see Daichi after the game, when they were all meeting up again outside. He was standing off the the side of the group, his shoulders were drooping, and his arms were crossed. He wasn’t crying. If Yachi had been him, she would have been bawling (but that’s her response to everything that goes wrong). He just looked like he was having a bad day.

 

Suga had been an opposite story. He was standing in the middle of the second and first years, openly crying and hugging different teammates, one at a time. Asahi was beside Suga, also crying, but in a more silent way.

 

And seeing them, Yachi also cried.

 

_ Aoba Johsai’s coach switched out Kindaichi for another first year at the next dead ball, and Yachi opened up her notebook. It was filled with notes on all the other teams she thought that Karasuno would meet on the court, notes on their play styles, players, strengths, and weaknesses. She looked through it, trying to find information on the new player. And she only had this idea because of Kiyoko. _

 

Yachi had thought that seeing Daichi, Suga, and Asahi was sad enough, but nothing had prepared her for Kiyoko. The other pretty girl had already been sitting on the bus while the team all congregated outside of it. And when Yachi boarded the bus, she saw Kiyoko right off of the bat. Tears streamed down her perfect face, but somehow the other girl’s makeup was undisturbed. And that was the worst part. 

 

Kiyoko looked so well put together, with perfect clothes and flawless makeup, except for the tears falling down her face that didn’t mess anything up yet destroyed everything.

 

And it made Yachi cry again.

 

When they both calmed down, somewhere between a rest stop and halfway home, Kiyoko handed over a notebook to Yachi. They were silent for a second before Kiyoko explained what it was, “All of my notes on all of the other teams.” Kiyoko looked away before finishing, “hopefully, it’ll help you lead the team when I’m gone.” Somehow, Yachi didn’t start crying again.

 

_ The first year had never played in an official match before, so it seemed that he would have to be good to replace the other middle blocker, even if he wasn’t that tall. But still, it was a bit concerning for Yachi, not knowing anything about the new player. Her team, Karasuno, could pull this off though. They had before, and they could do it again. _

 

The last game of nationals, the finals, was Karasuno against a no name school, Crimson Field. The other team was experiencing their first nationals ever, and they were at the final game.

 

Unfair would be the one word Yachi would use to describe the experience. 

 

Even as Tanaka basically screamed as he hit a spike and Noya received perfectly, she would still call it unfair.

 

No matter how this game ended, it would be unfair that the third years would have to go. No more Noya, Tanaka, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, or Narita. Unfair. But the other, unknown, team would keep all of their team, only first and second years. The team would never be the same without those five.

 

_ Aoba Johsai’s first year middle blocker completely shut out a spiking second year, but Hinata was standing in the right place to hit the ball accidentally with an outstretched hand, keeping it in play. _

 

Yachi had been the first one to cheer during that match against Crimson Field when Noya had saved a ball after it had been blocked, three times in a row, keeping Karasuno in the game. She had been the one to forget to put together the water bottles because she was sitting on the edge of her seat because the game was to exciting (they won’t be  _ that  _ mad at her for forgetting the water, right?).

 

And Yachi had been the first one to cry when the won. 37-35. It had been the third set that they had won, and the final points needed to win.

 

She was already cheering and crying and screaming before the others realized what had happened.

 

_ Yachi forced herself to sit on the bench and watch the game. What mattered now, was making sure that they won this game. In the moment since she zoned out, her team was back to being one point behind.  _

 

_ The volleyball was coming to her. _

 

_ Wait. _

 

_ To Yachi, sitting on the bench. _

 

_ Should she catch it? Attempt to bump it? Run away? _

 

_ Her questions were answered when the first year libero jumped in front of her and received the ball, sending it back to the court. The only thing she saw though, was his back, and his shaved head, looking a lot like team members long gone. _

 

Typically, Yachi was very good at not getting lost. She only used paths she already knew, and whenever she went off of them, Yachi would have google maps open to help. But there had been one time that she had been hopelessly lost. And she had ended up in not the best part of town.

 

And it was getting dark, her bag of take out from the new restaurant had been cold for awhile, and her phone had been dead for awhile. The only thing Yachi could admit was that she was hopelessly lost, and not in a good area.

 

As far as she could tell, she was nowhere near her school, her home, or a train station. Eventually, she could only think about all the things that could go wrong. All she could do was run faster past the darkened alleys and try to find the main road. There were no shops she could go into to ask to use a phone, or at least, none that looked more safe than one of the alleys. 

 

Her grip on her bag and purse only got tighter as she wandered. She went faster and faster. Yachi kept looking around. Her footsteps were too loud for the the quiet streets. The sun casting too many shadows. Too long since the last car, bike, or kid had been seen.

 

But then, the worst had happened, her fear. Somebody reached out to touch her shoulder. She screamed, but her mouth was quickly covered with a hand. Yachi froze. Only bad, really bad, could come of this. And she still couldn’t move.

 

Yachi couldn’t, didn’t, move while the person took her purse. When they put their hand in her short’s pocket to take out her phone. When they, asked for her jewelry. She couldn’t move when they slapped her when she didn’t take off her necklace.

 

She finally moved when she was pushed away from the person. But she didn’t move as the other person was punched. They ran away, her stuff dropped on the ground.

 

She just sat there while a person stood over her, shaved head and oversized clothes. Yachi moved when the new person turned around, rushing to give him a hug. Tanaka. He hugged her back for a second before muttering, “We need to get inside.” She nodded against his arm. He moved to get her stuff, and she followed close behind, holding onto his shirt.

 

After just a quick walk across the street, Yachi was lead inside an already open door into a musty room. He lead her to a couch and helped her sit down, handing a blanket to her before leaving. He returned a few minutes later with two cups of hot chocolate and a bag of marshmallows.

 

She grabbed one of the two warms mugs and put the mini marshmallows in her cup before taking a sip of the warm drink. The two of them sat silently for a few minutes before Tanaka finally spoke, “What were you doing in this part of town?”

 

“I got lost,” Yachi admitted, “I was trying to get home.”

 

Tanaka sighed, “Real lost I’m guessing. Do you need to call anyone to tell them where you are, get them to pick you up?”

 

Yachi shook her head, “My mom’s out of town, I’m by myself for now.”

 

“Oh.” Tanaka put down his glass, showing off his hot chocolate mustache, but continued to talk seriously, “You’ll stay here for the night, and I’ll help you get home in the morning.” He, however had to say it again because Yachi had started laughing about the mustache, her mood instantly lighter.

 

_ As soon as the ball was going up again, Hinata was racing for it, trying to stop it from falling on the ground. But he got to it, barely, and not before doing an accidental somersault. The ball was passed over the net (Free ball!)  _

 

_ However, even though Yachi’s team received and set the ball just as well as before, as Hinata landed from his jump, he continued to go down. Until he hit the ground and didn’t get right up. She was already heading for the medic before the referee had blown the whistle. By the time she had pulled the tall man over to her friend, Hinata was already sitting up and holding his ankle. _

 

_ Yachi helped the medic support Hinata and help him off the court, a second year already going out to replace him. As soon as they were out of the gym, the cheering now distant because of thick doors, Hinata smiled at her. “It doesn’t hurt as much as my first piercing.”  _

 

Soon after helping Yachi out, Tanaka’s house became the place for the team to hang out, even if the house was truthfully too small for all of them. There was an unspoken promise of fun in the house.

 

Which is how she found herself holding a piece of ice to Hinata’s earlobe and asking, “Are you sure that you want to do this? Because I don’t really think that this is how this is supposed to be done. Aren’t you supposed to go to a store? What is we do it wrong and you get an infection?”

 

“You worry too much Yachi,” Hinata laughed, “Tanaka knows what he’s doing, he got his done the other day!”

 

Kageyama looked up from Hinata’s other ear, “I don’t think that getting your ear pierced doesn’t teach you how to pierce other people’s ears.”

 

“And you two need to learn to have some fun,” Tanaka said as he walked out of the kitchen, holding a sewing needle that he had just finished sanitizing with boiling water, “Are his ears numb?”

 

“My hand is,” Kageyama said as he moved away from Hinata’s side, and Yachi couldn’t help but to agree with him, but she continued to hold the melting ice cube to his other ear. Continuing to do so was just the quickest reason Yachi could think of to look away from Tanaka running a needle through the ear of her fellow second year.

 

She couldn’t get away from Hinata’s flinch or his yelp of pain. And she couldn’t not notice that the needle came out of Hinata’s ear a lot more red than it went in (but maybe that was the dull lighting).

 

Tanaka left to wash off the one sewing needle and to get a new, already sanitized, needle from the kitchen to do the other ear. When he came back, he quickly did the other ear.

 

After the holes were made, Hinata sniffled a little before putting some earrings in, but he smiled afterwards and put his thumbs up.

 

Nobody mentioned that after Coach Ukai saw Hinata at practice the next day, he pulled the second year away to lecture him on proper piercing rules. And the day after that, nobody mentioned that Hinata had a professional piercing. But soon after, it was obvious that Hinata had caught a piercing bug when he kept on getting new ones.

 

_ Even as Hinata was being patched up, smiling and making jokes, anyone could tell that he was worried about his team. Even with the muffled sounds, they could hear whenever a point was made because of the second of silence. _

 

_ Yachi was sitting next to Hinata on the cot as his ankle was being wrapped up, and she was holding his red volleyball shoes, so she decided to do her best to distract the boy from the game, the pain, the everything. “How come you never let Kageyama draw all over your shoes? I know that he’s asked you.”  _

 

_ Hinata looked down at her shoes, filled with swirling colors, for a moment before muttering, “I always thought of it as something special between you two, I didn’t want to intrude on it.” _

 

_ “I’m sure that he would have been happy with coloring yours too,” Yachi said, “He liked to do stuff like that.” _

 

_ Hinata smiled at that, “I know he liked that stuff because I got him to paint my room like this for me!” With that, Hinata’s ankle was wrapped up, and they were ready to hobble back to the gym. Each step brought them closer to the noise, the cheering, and the music. It was the slowest she had ever gone in as she helped support Hinata’s weight, taking one slow step at a time. The medic was long gone, already in the gym and looking for another injury. _

 

_ Getting the door to open while supporting Hinata had been a struggle, and when if finally gave and slammed with a resounding  _ BANG _ , Yachi just couldn’t help but be reminded of Tsukishima. _

 

Karasuno vrs. Shiratorizawa, first year. Yachi had stood in the stands, cheering for her team as loud as she could, but couldn’t do much else. And she could only watch as Tsukishima jammed his fingers blocking [Ushijima]’s spike. The moments in which he was gone were tense, more so than anyone would have wanted to admit. 

 

To say that back then, Tsukishima coming back to the court was their saving grace.

 

_Now though, all Hinata could do was limp to the bench and watch the rest of the match unfold._ _Yachi and Hinata could only watch as both teams gained points. Karasuno one. Aoba Johsai one. Back and forth between the two teams. Karasuno messed up a serve, Aoba Johsai were blocked out. A hit from one side, a tip in response._

 

_ Neither team had the ability to gain more than a one point lead on the other. There was one thing Yachi, and every other person watching, could see - this would be a close match. _

 

_ It was one of the moments in which Karasuno had the one point lead (38-37), when there was a perfect moment. _

 

_ The volleyball was floating above the net, not truly on one side or the other. _

_ One of Aoba Johsai’s second years jumped up to push it over onto Karasuno’s side. _

 

_ The second year that had replaced Hinata jumped to meet his appointment. _

 

_ Both hand their hands on the ball, trying to push it over. _

 

_ Karasuno had to win. _

 

In the first set of tournaments in Yachi’s second year, her team didn’t even come close to getting to Nationals. Hey didn’t even make it into the semifinals for their prefecture. 

 

Date Tech had brutally beaten them, their iron wall stronger than ever before. It had been devastating, especially for Yachi. It was the first tournament that she had been the solo manager, and she had failed them.

 

She had gone home that night, knowing that it was all her fault. Yachi had gone to school the next day, ready to resign (they needed a better manager than what she could offer), but when she walked through the doors, her friends, her family, had greeted her with a group hug. On that day, they had practiced, discovered what went wrong, drew blue swirls, and had promised to win the Nationals next time (and they had).

 

_ Both second years had their hands on the volleyball, neither side giving up. _

 

_ But then one started to fall back down to the ground, gravity taking hold. _

 

_ And the volleyball followed the player down. _

 

In just the last Nationals, they had made it to the finals. It was the first tournament in her third year, her fourth overall, and her second at Nationals.

 

Yachi and her team had been riding a high the entire time with games going easier than expected. Each game was harder than the last one, but they always had a good safe amount of points putting them in the lead.

 

At least, until the finals.

 

The team was probably feeling full of themselves, winning all their previous matches wonderfully.

 

But even in the beginning of the match, anyone could see that they were going to lose. The other team was moving faster, jumping higher, and hitting harder than anyone on her team. And it was showing. Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei spent the whole match trying to convince the team that they had a chance, that they could still win.

 

But it didn’t work. Karasuno kept on falling behind. Their moves were read before they had a chance to try them out. Blocks were raised at every possible moment. Serves never went to the same place two times in a row.

 

Her team had been destroyed, in the finals of the Nationals in her first tournament in her third year.

 

Which meant that they (Yachi, Kageyama, Hinata, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi) had one more chance to do this, and to do it right. To get to Nationals one more time and to win one more time.

 

All she needed was one more time.

 

One more win.

 

One more match.

 

One more set.

 

One more point.

 

And Yachi, and her friends, could make those who came before them proud. The old third years, second year, the alumni, the little giant, they all would be proud.

 

Even if she lost this one, Yachi’s team would win the next one, she was sure of it.

 

_ Just one more point and Karasuno would win. _

 

_ And the volleyball continued to fall, as if in slow motion. _

 

The old third years - Daichi, Suga, Asahi, and Kyoko - had cried as they left, as they graduated from Karasuno’s volleyball club. They had been the first group in years, since the little giant, to make it to Nationals.

 

They had been the group to Karasuno’s volleyball club to Nationals, even if they hadn’t won.

 

The old third years had made all the second and first years promise to win it next time.

 

The old second years had been the ones to bring the team to Nationals, and to win it all. It was the first time ever that Karasuno had won.

 

The second years had helped them push through everything against them and to win again and again and again until there was nothing left to win. 

 

The old second years had made the old first years promise to win again.

 

_ If she could win this one more game, what would she be? If her team lost, would they even be remembered, or would they be forgotten forever? _

 

As a kid, Yachi Hitoka was always a Townsperson B, an extra not truly needed, but good to see appear in the play. Having the townspeople added realism to the play because having the no names, people you only ever see once on a street and never remember after that, is an occurrence that happens everyday in real life. When Yachi had first received the position, she thought it was fitting that nobody would remember her because she had always thought about the forgotten people. Even if they were never remembered, they made the world a little better because it was comforting to know that other people existed.

 

When she changed from Townsperson B to Karasuno’s men’s volleyball manager, she felt as if she had just moved from one background to another. Yachi Hitoka had moved from the stage to the court, but she was still in the background. But now, instead of never being remembered, as a background manager, she would be remembered as the person on the street who chased down another person after they dropped their wallet.

 

And that was a lot better of a fate, in Yachi’s opinion. 

 

_ The volleyball finally hit the floor. _

 

Over the three years that she had been with Karasuno, the people had moved from strangers to friends to family, and Yachi Hitoka, the background character, was going to help them win again.

 

_ The players one Aoba Johsai’s side dived for the ball, but missed. _

 

_ It hit the ground in front of their hands softly, barely making a noise in the gym. _

 

_ The final score finally showed up. 39-37. Thirty nine to thirty seven. _

 

_ Two point. _

 

_ They had won. _

 

_ Hinata, still sitting beside her was the first one to realize. He had thrown himself up, ready to cheer, already forgetting about his foot. He fell down onto the ground, but he was crying and cheering, prouder than proud that his team had won. _

 

_ And Yachi joined him on the ground, sliding off of the bench, and she hugged him harder than she ever had before. _

 

_ It wasn’t even the Nationals yet, but she felt as happy as if it were so, and nothing could stop her from feeling like it at all. _

 

_ They had won this won more match, so they had to win the next one more match. _

 

_ And the one after that and after that and after that until there would be no more to win. It was all she wanted, Yachi needed. _

 

_ And the others felt the same way.  _

 

_ Even as they gathered together, sweaty bodies pressed close together in a hug, already talking about what they could improve on for the next match. _

 

_ Yachi was proud of her team, even if she was just the background character of the team, she could still say she had a part of this. A part of a winning team. _

 

_ As soon as she could think those words, she was pulled into the group hug Hinata and some of the first years had started for the team. _

 

_ It was obvious that other people in the gym wanted them to clear out so they could continue with what they needed to do, but they were too busy celebrating. They only moved to the doors when Coach Ukai told them that they needed to get to their bus. _

 

_ Everyone walked out of that gym in a group huddle, players, coaches, and managers alike pressed together and cheering and smiling and ready to fight in the next fight. All that was left was to leave the building as a group, ready to continue on. _

 

Karasuno High School was bigger than she thought that it would be when she read about it, but at least for the next year, it would be where Yachi would be going to school. Hopefully, she would actually be here for three years, and get a full education because that would best for what she needed, college.

 

But most importantly, hopefully she would find some good friends in the next three years - friends that would never leave her behind.


End file.
